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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29628132">In the end, the stars will still shine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxYukiAngel/pseuds/XxYukiAngel'>XxYukiAngel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stories of The Multiverse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gods, Magic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:49:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,076</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29628132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxYukiAngel/pseuds/XxYukiAngel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Astra, a young Cleric who's quite passionate about the history of the Old Gods, managed to encounter someone in their local tavern who convinced them to accept an important quest.<br/>The task is easy,  just go to this cave and kill the cult that was hiding there and bring the artifact that they might find. Once they reach the destination they find Aelius, who's a lost soul that materialized in the physical world because the cult tried to resurrect one of the three Old Gods and what at first was just a quest to kill some people, ended up into one to discover the secrets of the Multiverse</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stories of The Multiverse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2176929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In the end, the stars will still shine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warning: There are some mentions of abuse that might affect people, read with care :o<br/>&gt;might have some typos</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Well, I grew up in a quite religious family so it makes sense that I ended up taking this path” the Cleric said to the bard, as they were drinking some ale together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really, mom was a thief and dad was a dragonborn mage and here I am, singing and trying to seduce people to get out of quests” The bard chuckled and started playing on his lute. It was an old song that was said to be here from the time of the gods, but people would usually just think that it’s just the bard messing with them. The cleric closed their eyes and enjoyed the music. They knew about the song from the Church, well, they mostly read about it in the church’s library. There weren’t that many books with information about the Age of the Gods, what some might call it, so finding any information about something that old was always difficult. There was an antique book that has some stories about the Age of the Gods, but even that was not written during that time. There weren’t that many copies of the document so not many people knew about it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After the song ended, the cleric got up and walked towards the tavern keeper. At the table in front of him there was this… unique looking girl, deep in sleep. They pointed towards her and the tavern keeper laughed softly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s what she usually does. Gets the most difficult quests and every time she comes back she just sleeps on this table. I’m surprised she hasn’t complained about her back. Sure, she’s been helping us for a while so she has a room where she can sleep but, you know how it is with young people”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just how old is she?” The cleric asked, sitting on the seat next to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The guy shrugged. “I don’t know? I always assumed she was around 18 but I never asked her. Not that interested in one’s age as long as they can kill what needs to be killed, you know?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fair. Any new quests for me? Been waiting for a few days and the people at the Church of Time are a little bit angry at me for not showing up that often and I’d rather have a small document to attest that I’m on a quest and not just not wanting to deal with my holy responsibilities…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Astra, why don’t you leave the church? You’re great at fighting, I’m sure a person like you doesn’t need a patron deity to fight. And, well, I don’t think anyone that teamed up with you ever saw you actually praying to Cronos” The tavern keeper said as he was cleaning one of the glasses someone brought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My entire family is part of the Church and they are already angry at me for not being… you know…” they gestured at their body. Their hair was long and brown and kept in a ponytail. One of the aspects everyone quickly noticed was the absence of a chest, even though their build looked quite feminine. Astra was always described as “androgynous” and such, they just went with “they/them” most of the time. Never thought of themselves as a female or a male, they were just their own person. Their family was quite angry when they learned about it but finally learnt to accept it… after some good years of only seeing them for the holidays. They’re still angry from time to time, that being one of the reasons Astra avoids to visit the Church of Time that often. They usually wore leather armor with a little bit of plate on their shoulder but they always thought about just changing to a plate chest, maybe that will make people not actually look at that part of themselves. They tried once to wear one, but it was surprisingly uncomfortable with it so they learnt to ignore those remarks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra sighed and rested their head on the table. The tavern keeper chuckled a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seems that now we have two sleeping beauties in this tavern” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A loud cat-like yawn interrupted the discussion as the girl finally woke up. She put her long pink hair on a messy ponytail, making sure that one of her eyes was still covered and asked for some water. She glanced at Astra and pointed at the pocket watch they had on their hip.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that one of those objects you get from the so-called Church of Time?” she asked, sounding quite bored.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra was a little bit surprised. They weren’t expecting the girl to wake up and talk with them. They were more surprised that she didn’t instantly point out any other aspect of their appearance, just the presence of the pocket watch. Astra grabbed the watch and showed it to the girl. Her outfit felt like it didn’t fit into this story, her clothes looking more similar to what someone might find in an entirely different region of the world. Or maybe a different time as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m Astra, a Cleric of the Church of Time. It is nice to meet you! What’s your name, young one?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The girl just laughed at them. They looked quite confused and glanced at the tavern keeper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh right, forgot to tell you. Toji here kinda hates the Church of Time for some unknown reasons. She doesn’t talk that much about herself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s just funny to hear someone calling me “young one”!” she said and drank her water. “Anyways, you do know that the Church of Time is a stupid cult and that Cronos is not the great god everyone claims to be, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Astra said, tilting their head in confusion. “Well, sure, I don’t like the Church that much, but what about the part with Cronos? How do you even know that? Were you part of the cult? Well, now that I think about it, I would have remembered seeing someone as young as you and with this… particular hair color around there… But then again, I haven’t been there that much for the last few years so it would technically make sense that I wouldn’t actually see you…” They put one hand under their chin and looked a little spaced out as they were trying to put all the pieces in one picture. Toji just sighed and looked at her empty glass.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know. It would take some time to explain everything and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t actually believe anything I’m saying. So how about…” she grabbed her backpack and put a piece of paper on the table. It looked like a quest bill. The tavern keeper frowned a little but shrugged it off. “You handle this quest and maybe you’ll find some information about your so-called god, how does that sound?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Toji, don’t you think it’s going to be a little bit difficult for Astra if they go alone? I gave you this quest for a reason…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s gonna be fiiine, I’m pretty sure they can handle it. Just because they’re not as strong as I am doesn’t mean they can’t deal with that old cult. You should learn to trust people, you old man!” She said, laughing at the tavern keeper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm, what makes you think I’ll find some information about Cronos there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, it’s a cult that worships one of the old gods… You guys would probably name it more like uh… A god that used to rule the world during the Age of Gods? So I thought that hey, they should have plenty of information about the old fucker as well” She shrugged. “It’s your choice honestly, I don’t mind dealing with them but I’d rather do it alone so you choose between dealing with it yourself or letting me do it”.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The tavern keeper frowned at Toji and sighed. “As irrational as ever, weren’t you looking for info about the old gods as well?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, If there’s actually something interesting there, I’m pretty sure my new friend Astra will tell us, right?” She smiled and winked at Astra.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Guess I can give it a try then…” Said Astra, avoiding eye contact and grabbing the quest bill. “Oh, seems like it’s quite close so I could leave for now. Thanks for the quest, Toji!” They get up but their arm is grabbed by Toji.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Beeefore you go, I want to ask you for something. Well, more like, can you bring me any kind of… talisman you might find?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure? Is it some kind of magic item or…?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s something important for her,” said the tavern keeper in a much colder voice. “You don’t need any details about it, just bring back any kind of magic item you might find, if that’s ok for you. I’ll give you a good price for them, just don’t attune to them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Understandable, I’ll see what I can find. With that, I’ll take my leave. I do have some questions for you, Miss Toji, but I’ll ask them after I’m done with this quest if that’s ok for you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, I’ll probably be passed out on this table like usual” She said, laughing and while laying her head down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d appreciate it if you would go to your room for now” the tavern keeper said while cleaning another glass a little bit too slow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can see that you’re angry so I’ll do as you say” She rolled her eyes and jumped from the chair. “Anyways, good look on your quest!” She waved to Astra and walked towards the stairs to the upper floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This young girl…” the tavern keeper said, as Astra was going towards the door “reminds me too much about someone. Oh well, back to what I was doing” he said to himself while grabbing a plate with some food, walking towards a table with a group of young people.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The cave where the cult was hiding was at around one hour walking distance. From the outside it looked like… any other cave. There wasn’t anything special about it that would give up their presence. But there was this magical aura around that people might notice if they paid attention. Astra readied their sword and slowly walked into the cave, making sure that they didn't make any noise. The cleric walked through a long stone corridor and stopped at a door. It looked like it had some kind of magic seal a long time ago, but now it was just a normal heavy door. Astra took a deep breath, to channel their strength and pushed the door with as much force as they could. It moved just enough for them to get into the room behind it. Suddenly, a wind started blowing and a heavy magical aura appeared around them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did I… activate a trap?” they asked themselves and readied their sword. A light ball manifested in front of Astra, as they jumped, startled by this sudden apparition. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I sense a human around here” the light ball said, as it started to grain a proper shape. It looked like it had some small pair of wings as well, similar to what a fairy would look like. Astra tried to touch it, but the light ball took some distance between the two of them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who are you and what are you doing here? Are you trying to resurrect someone just like the cult did? You think that this place has enough magical energy to bring someone from the dead?...” said the ball, in a much harsher tone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve been sent by the people in my city to investigate this place and eliminate the cult that might be hiding around here… And also to bring back any kind of artifacts I might find. What are you exactly?” Astra asked, tilting their head in curiosity. The light ball had a huge amount of magic around them, so they were sure it wasn’t a simple fairy. The only reasonable answer would be a lost sorcerer soul since warlocks usually end up giving up their soul to the creature they made a pact with when they’re almost dead…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm…” The little light slowly floated around Astra, analyzing the armor they were wearing. They stopped when they saw the pocket watch, the clear sign of the Church. “And yet, what’s a follower of Cronos doing around these parts? You people are only outside of your Church to force even more people in your cult…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Another person that hates Cronos, it seems,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Astra thought as they tried to hide their pocket watch. “It’s...” they tried to say, but finding their words was a little bit complicated. They felt that this little creature is trustworthy and that it would be helpful to be on their good side during this job, but at the same time something was telling them that the light ball was clearly hiding something much, much bigger. It felt like the presence of the cult was something of lesser importance than what the creature in front of them was hiding. “I can’t deny it,” they said, with a little bit more confidence. “My folks are well-known for being… quite awful people honestly. I don’t really visit the Church and my family, except for the few important holidays of the year and even then they kinda hate me? I honestly have no idea why am I even serving the Church of Time, but in the end, I guess I just need a purpose in my life.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can accept this answer, as I sense honesty from your words. Very well, human, I am Aelious, an ancient soul that the cult has summoned by complete accident. I do not know where they are and I suspect they might have sacrificed one another in their attempt to resurrect their old god. I don’t recall anything from when I was alive, only that I lived in what you humans might call the Age of the Old Gods”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m glad to meet you, Aelius. I’m Astra, a Cleric of the Church of Time… Well, mostly in name, these days I can’t really say I’ve been praying that much to our god to be fair. Would you accompany me in my quest to find what happened in this cave and maybe find some traces of this cult?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Very well, Astra of the Church of Time”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just Astra works!” they said, avoiding eye contact. They hated having the Church attached to their name since they’ve never felt like belonging to that place. Aelious flew close to their shoulder. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We should first investigate this room, it feels like there are quite a few items that might pick up your interest. And also, we need a way to break the barrier on the next door. It seems that the cult had quite high security.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you have any idea how we might achieve that?” Astra asked, putting their sword on her back. They had it in their hands ever since they walked in this cave so it was time for them to rest a little. Astra hoped that they wouldn't have to fight anything soon, but in a bad case scenario, they could use some magic as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really. I assume that there must be an item around here that would help us. Something like a magic scroll with a spell on it or maybe just a key?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The light ball started flying around the room. Astra decided to just sit on the floor for a while, might as well take a little break. They picked the quest bill from their bag and inspected it a little bit. There wasn’t any information about what god does the cult even serve. Then again, from what Aelius said, it seems like they’re serving an old god? Maybe that’s what Toji meant when she said that they will find some interesting information. They liked the idea of finally learning something new about the old gods since it was a subject they were quite interested in. Astra opened their eyes again, as they just spaced out for a second, just to wake up with the light ball in their face, looking a little bit annoyed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe you should not sleep right now? What would have happened if someone attacked while you were dozing off?” He said, shining more than before. “Humans, not taking care of their sleep before they actually go on a difficult quest!” He sighed and looked at their face. “You look like you were dreaming about something nice?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? Did I actually fall asleep?” Astra said, while slowly getting up. They stretched a little and tried to pet the light ball. He quickly dodged and glared at the cleric. Aelious opened his mouth, wanting to comment about what Astra wanted to do, but then stopped, realizing how pointless arguing about it would have been. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, you did, now can you come here? I think I have found something interesting” He flew in front of a painting, covered by a piece of cloth. “I can not interact with objects since I am just a little soul with a semi-physical form so I would appreciate your help in removing this piece of cloth…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think the painting is important?” Astra asked, grabbing what it looked like to be an old curtain. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It has a little magical aura around it. Or is it important for the seal or it might help you with what information you are looking for. I assume you want to know more about the Old Gods or else I would have had… Different company..?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait, what?” They asked, a little bit confused. “Do you know about how Toji was supposed to take this quest first..?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have a quest bill so I just assumed someone else would have taken the quest if it was not you…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra dragged the old curtain and revealed a painting of a young woman, dressed in a long dark blue dressed with the night sky on it. Her wavy long hair was reaching her lower back and she had small golden highlights here and there. It looked like a mural of a goddess. In one hand she was holding the earth and in the other the moon. They looked at Aelius who seemed lost in thoughts as the sight of the woman. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you know her?” Astra asked, walking closer to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked at the painting a little bit melancholic. At the sight of the painting, Aelius regained some of his memories. He knew who that person was and what it was for him… with a little memory that reminded him about how he actually died. Aelius sighed and the little ball of light looked towards Astra. Their eyes were shining, looking quite excited to know more about who that person was. He smiled a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, yes and no. You see, I think I was a cleric as well in my past life, since it seems that I knew a lot about the gods of this realm…” He said, avoiding eye contact for a split second. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, we’re quite similar then! Except that I’m.. not particularly fond of the god I serve… Anyways, who was she?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s Sophia, The "little" sister of the Creation, The one who kept everything in balance and the Creator of Earth. Called “The Judge” as well by the humans, since she was the one deciding one’s eternal resting place. Her soul was pure and she tried her best to stop her big brother from abusing his power, but yet, the Light God toyed with his creations and 'caused the End of the Old World. They both died in the end, leaving their only brother to deal with recreating the world…</span>
  <em>
    <span>” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he said, in a slightly deeper voice. “She is… She was a good goddess. She wanted to give the humans a chance to actually enjoy the good things in their life, by giving them small hardships. Not stuff that would almost kill them, how is it today, just something that would make them value everything else.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Was she the deity you served?” Astra asked, noting down everything on a little notebook they had with them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am not sure, but I would say that she was not my patron deity. Alas, I do not remember anything else about her so let’s continue looking around. We still need something for that door.” Aelius flew towards the other side of the room, illuminating the little corner. There was something out of metal on the wall. From the distance, it looked like it had some golden decorations on it. Astra walked towards it, but managed to trip over something on the floor on the way there. They picked the object and it was a weird looking key. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think this might open the door?” The cleric asked and showed the item to their companion. Aelius looked a bit confused and quickly flew towards the door. He glanced again at the key and then stopped at the level of the keyhole. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So I might have been wrong about the magic seal…” he said, as Astra laughed at his cute reaction. “But then again, it does feel like there is a lot of magic in this room..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cleric tilted their head and put a hand under their chin. They closed their eyes, trying to sense the magic themselves. But the only source of magic they could pick was Aelius himself. “Maybe it is your magic? That’s the only thing I’m picking up, honestly. And it would make sense since you said you were a cleric in your past life… Just how powerful you were?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right, it is my magic, that makes sense. Looks like the key you have found is from this door. You want to open it now or…?” Aelius asked, standing in front of Astra, waiting for an answer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It looked like you’ve found something as well, so maybe we should investigate that as well?” they said, their eyes shining in excitement. Aelius chuckled and flew towards the corner of the room where they'd noticed the metal object on the wall. On a closer inspection it looked like an old shield with a hole through the middle of it. On the ground, next to the wall, there was a sword that had its blade broken and rusty. Astra picked the sword and slashed the air with it. The weapon had better days in the past, but now it was a relic of the old days. The cleric put the sword down and grabbed the shield as well. It felt familiar to have a shield in their arms after so much time, but they promised themselves they’ll never wield another one after failing to protect their loved one... Aelius closed his eyes for a few seconds, before starting to talk.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“These are Sophia’s weapons. She wanted to protect everyone so she mostly used her shield fights. This shield has seen much better days, but it did see the End of the Old World as well. It protected their owner 'till the final blow but sadly didn't accompany her in the night sky… And this sword killed Melchior, the one she fought in the end. The Light God was stabbed in the chest with it as he dealt his final blow to her as well. His greatsword managed to make this big hole in the shield…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aelius, stop. You look like you’re going to cry if you continue talking about this. Why are you so affected by this?” Astra asked, raising their hand to pat the light ball, but stopped mid-action, remembering how he reacted before. “Did you remember something about your past life as well…?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh… Yeah… I remembered that I killed someone that was important to me. In the end, I’ve died as well, not long after they had their last breath… So the whole story about the End of the Old World reminded me of that…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine, it’s fine” The cleric said and patted the little light ball. Maybe he was much older than them, but this was the only way they could comfort him. He gave them a weak smile. “Let’s put the shield and the sword near the painting, that looks like a better place for them” Astra picked up the two weapons with Aelius flying around them. They put them on the ground, right under the painting, leaning on the wall. The cleric kneeled next to them, gave a small prayer and grabbed their notebook to take a few notes about what they’ve found. So far they’ve learned about the existence of the Three Old Gods and how there was a different world before this one was created and that their fight destroyed the old world. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shall we go to the next room?” Asked Aelius, flying in front of the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right!” Astra said, dashing towards him with the key in hand. “Let’s see what items this room will have!” The door was made out of stone, looking as heavy as the one before it. They put the key in the keyhole and it fit. They spinned it a few times until a loud ‘click’ noise echoed the room. They pushed it with all their strength and it moved just enough for them to be able to sneak into the next room. This place was somehow even more darker than the one they just left. The only light source was Aelius and his light wasn’t enough to light up the entire room. Astra stretched themselves a little and grabbed a torch from their bag and lit it up. There were other torches on the walls so the cleric touched a few of them, casting Light on them to make them glow. Now they could see at least half of the room. Between the torches there was another painting with an old curtain on it and right next a longer weapon than a normal sword. It looked more like a spear from that distance. Aelius flew to the wall that had no source of light to find another painting. They were positioned in such a way that they were facing each other. In the middle of the room there was a pedestal with a stone tablet on it. Astra skipped towards it, humming the song that the Bard was playing in the tavern. They brought the torch closer to the tablet so that they can read what’s written in it. Except that it was in an ancient language and the cleric had no clue what the symbols meant. They grabbed the stone tablet, flipped it over, thinking that the cult people might have written some kind of translation on that part. Sadly they were unlucky this time. They sighed and whistled, to catch Aelius attention. He was staring at one of the covered paintings, the one next to the greatsword. He got startled by the whistle and looked a bit annoying towards Astra, but he flew next to them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What did you find?” he asked, floating over the stone tablet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ancient text! And I thought that hey, you might be able to read it…? Maybe?” Their shoulders dropped. “I have no clue what these symbols even mean and I’m curious about this…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, it was written by someone who knew the Old Language, so to speak. Based on how old it is, however, I would say that it was written after the New World appeared…” he stopped, lost in thoughts. He glanced at the stone tablet and then at Astra. “But yes, I can translate what is written here. Let me quickly read it first”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra felt once again that Aelius was hiding something important. Like he knew who wrote this tablet. Like he knew more about the Old World then he wanted to say… They felt like he regained all of his memories but he didn’t want to share his true identity… Who was him actually?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Earth to Astra?” Aelius said, floating directly in front of their face. “You spaced out again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right! What is the tablet talking about? Is it something interesting?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Quite interesting, if I may add.” he said and gave them a warm smile “I am sure that you will like this story, but I do suggest grabbing your notebook first. You might want to note some important stuff.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They put the notebook on the pedestal. The pages that were completed so far had some small sketches of all the items they’ve found and quite a long text that talks about Sophia and what happened to her. The first thing they did was to quickly doodle the stone tablet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am now ready! What’s the story about?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The creation of Melanthios, Melchior and Sophia. I will read it to you…” he said as his voice got deeper. “</span>
  <b>
    <em>A dark field and a white sky, this was the world at the beginning. A firm delimitation between earth and sky, darkness and light. And yet, the time seemed frozen. There was no living being in this place. Nothing was happening here. But at one point the wind appeared and the plants started moving. A single light orb broke from the sky and fell into the darkness. From that orb appeared him, the one who people called "The God". Most people would call him the image of kindness, but even so, he was light born into darkness.  And such, seeing the frozen picture he was born into, he created the first world. A place where no one was suffering. The Paradise. Humans call it heaven. He just called it the "True Universe" since he, the first God, was the one who created it. And what is a doll house without the dolls? And such he made his first creation. He made the humans, two at first and then he started creating more and more to populate his little paradise. The Light God made them perfect, so that they won't share his flaws. He knew he had some problems and a corrupted heart and yet, he was happy seeing his creations living a careless life, with no problems and no deaths. </em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>From the field of darkness appeared an orb who jumped into the sky and created another god. The Second God, but yet their creation was seconds apart. He didn't create anything, just watched his "older brother" building the Paradise. His name was Melanthios while the Light God was Melchior. And yet, the humans called them Satan and God, mostly because of how Melanthios ended up killing one human by accident, who turned out to be one of the first twos. He just wanted to give the humans some hardships to enjoy life even more, but he ended up killing one. He never realized how fragile they were, living in the perfect world of theirs… Melchior was angry. He knew that once they'd experience hardships, they would start developing his flaws. Pain only brings up the worst of people and knows he was experiencing it. He knew that his creations had the same darkness he had deep into his heart. Melchior knew that his creations weren't made for Melanthios' wishes and that they will constantly die because of this... The two gods started fighting and the Universe who created them decided to stop the fight, so it created a creature born into light and darkness as well, Sophia, the Third Goddess. She was the one that had to make sure the two gods will not destroy each other. And such, she created the Earth. A place, similar to Paradise, that gave humans a good life, but filled with some hardships. Sophia wanted both gods to be happy so she created a place made from both of their ideas</em>
  </b>
  <b>.</b>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aelius looked towards Astra, who was trying to note down everything they heard. They’ve already written a few pages since he started talking. The light ball never expected for the cleric to be so interested in this kind of history. Then again, seeing them like this made him happy. Seeing someone that wanted to know something he was part of warmed his soul. And yet, he knew that he couldn’t tell them about who he actually was. He couldn’t expect a mortal to react properly when they realize that the one next to them is actually a god. Especially when it’s one of the Old ones, not one of the many that were created in the New World for each dimension. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That was all?” Astra asked, looking at the stone tablet. “Don’t get me wrong, I am surprised that there was so much information written on this stone tablet! And I find it interesting that both of the first gods actually had flaws and like, texts actually talk about it? And not try to make them seem like perfection in a human-like body… But I do get the impression that the story just… cuts out? Like there’s clearly more of it? What happened after Sophia appeared and what was her reaction when she saw humans having this inner darkness that Melchior was afraid of? What happened to Melanthios? And based on this information, I assume that the fight that ended the Old World was between Melchior and Sophia…” they said, writing a few things that they just told Aelius. “How did they even end up fighting? But assuming that Melchior and Sophia killed each other.. Does that mean that the New World was created by Melanthios? Then where is he now and why is Cronos ruling this universe..? Aaaah, so many questions!” They said, resting their head on the pedestal. “You think I’ll find the answers around here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aelius smiled and glanced at the paintings on the walls. “Maybe these two will give you more information about the other two gods? You already know some stuff about Sophia”  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Astra grabbed their notebook and walked towards the well-illuminated wall. The cleric grabbed the piece of fabric that was covering the painting, similar to the one they’ve found in the other room, and revealed the mural of a young looking male. He had long raven hair and a spear in his left arm. In his right one he was holding a small ball of darkness, similar to how Sophia was holding the Earth and the Moon in her painting. It looked like he was supposed to be Melanthios. But if the goddess was holding her creation, then what did he create in the end? Astra let the piece of fabric fall on the floor as they grabbed their notebook. A quick sketch of the painting to immortalize it and of the spear next to it. The cleric assumed that it was his weapon. It looked surprisingly new? More like, not actually being used in a battle. But somehow, it was still slightly broken. Probably because of its age. They glanced at Aelius, that was still looking at the stone tablet, deep in thought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Soo, are you going to stare at the stone or you’re going to help me with analyzing this painting?” Astra asked, playing with their pen. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The lost soul was startled by the cleric’s voice. “Right, sure,” he said and quickly flew towards them. He looked at the painting with the same melancholy as he did before. A little tear appeared in his eye as he tried to hide it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are the memories too painful for you?” They turn towards their companion, with the back at the painting. “Look, it’s fine, you don’t have to talk about this if it’s too much. I assume this one it’s Melanthios and that’s his weapon, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” he answered, as his voice was trembling a little. “That is him. And the little sphere of darkness that you see in his arm is the little place he hid after the fight with his brother. It’s what people called Hell. Sophia tried to send a few people in that dimension, after their earth’s life ended, hoping that it would help. But because of his strong emotions, those humans ended up being tortured until their soul was destroyed. In the end, the goddess would send humans that killed and destroyed everything in their life. The weapon next to the painting is his spear. He never fought in his life so he did not use it at all. But he still had it and all of the paintings of him had the spear in them as well. It was his… signature weapon so to speak…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s enough Aelius, I don’t want to force you to talk. I don’t know why, but it looks like it’s affecting you quite a lot… Are you sure you didn’t remember who you actually are?” Astra said, closing their notebook and looking straight into his eyes. “It feels like you’re hiding something important. It’s true that we met not long ago, but you said you will help. And I want to help you as well, you know? So if you think that talking about your memories will help you, then please, go ahead, I’ll listen…”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am not sure if that is a good idea…” he said and let out a long sigh. “There are quite some things that might be a little bit too much to understand and I might not be able to answer all of your questions about my identity. But yes, I have remembered who I am and my relation to the gods…” He looked away for a bit. After taking a deep breath he glanced back at Astra, who was giving him enough time to collect his thoughts. “We still have a lot to discover here, don’t we..?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s true, there’s still quite a lot to discover, I assume. I have no idea how many rooms there are still left and what exactly we will find. Then again, I can’t say that I’ve found anything about Cronos so far… Do you think we’ll stumble about something like that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aelius was flying towards the other side of the room, lighting up the wall with the other painting. He looked up at it. “Probably. But for now let’s see what this painting is…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s probably Melchior,” Astra said, arriving next to him. “It would make sense that this room would talk about the two of them honestly. So maybe if there’s another room, maybe that will talk about Cronos and the New gods!” they said, sounding quite excited as they grabbed the piece of cloth, revealing a painting of a young man with white short hair. He was staying on a throne with some angel wings on the back of the seat. He was dressed in formal attire, all in white, similar to what Melanthios was wearing. Next to his throne there was a dark-colored greatsword similar to the one that was now leaning to the wall. Well, it looked like there was only half of it left, probably broken from the last fight. Astra picked up the weapon that was still quite heavy, even in this form. Then again, they were used to short one-handed swords so wielding a two-handed one seemed a little bit complicated. The cleric glanced at Aelius, who looked speechless. He was mostly staring at the painting. He suddenly turned around, looking quite angry. Astra tilted their head, wanting to ask a few questions but realized that it might not be the perfect moment for this. Then again, they already learnt almost everything about these gods, didn’t they..? They grabbed their notebook and wrote down a few stuff in it, while trying to sketch out the painting they’ve found. They sighed, putting their writing instrument back and gently touched the painting. There were still a few puzzle pieces that were missing in this entire story, especially what exactly caused the war…? What made Melchior fight Sophia? As their fingers were tracing the contour of the man in the painting, Astra felt a small bump in the surface. They quickly glanced at Aelius, who was flying around in circles, probably thinking about the current situation. “Well,” they told themselves “A painting shouldn’t be that hard to pick up… right?”. They grabbed the frame of it and slowly lifted up a little. Once they made sure it wasn’t attached to the wall anymore, they dragged towards it. Behind it was a small button, probably the one that opened the door. They leaned the painting next to the greatsword and quickly pressed the button. A loud sound of a heavy stone door moving and light entered the room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aelius, the door is open!” Astra said as they passed the light ball.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shook his head for a second, glanced back at the Melchior painting and took a deep breath. “Astra, I am sorry, but I am not sure how much I can help from now on…” he said, looking quite depressed. “My… memories only cover the Old World, I know nothing about the New Gods and I have not heard that much about Cronos.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But you recognized the symbol of the Church of Time?” The cleric asked, tilting their head in confusion. They’ve put their hand under their chin, and closed their eyes for a few seconds. “How can you know about that and not about the New Gods? Then again, we don’t have that much information about them as well, except for the fact that Cronos exists and he’s the ruler of the Universe…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have heard people from the cult talking about it… while they were still alive. Turns out they were against the Church of Time and they wanted to resurrect… Melchior so that he can be the true ruler of the Universe,'' He looked away, “I saw them sacrificing themselves trying to summon their god’s spirit…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra looked shocked. They knew that the cult was trying to resurrect a god and could guess that it might have been Melchior since Melanthios should still be alive… But they weren’t expecting this to actually be true. “Are… Are you one of their failed attempts? Were you supposed to be the true form of Melchior, but because of what happened that resulted in your death, they couldn’t complete the ritual and only resurrected a part of his soul…?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He took a deep breath. Astra somehow figured out his identity, so why not just confirm it already… “Y-... Yes. I am supposed to be Melchior,” he said, and looked away. “I am the one that brought the end of the world because he couldn’t accept that he wasn’t the only god in the Universe…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra frowned at him. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?! You are one of the old gods!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Technically, I am just a part of one’s soul…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And all that story about how you were a cleric in your past life!” They said, as their cheeks turned red and their voice raised in volume. “You lied to me! I mean, sure, I shouldn’t be angry because you’re just a floating light ball and we just met some hours ago… But still! You could have just told me that you don’t remember and that’s it, you didn’t have to fabricate that story and make me empathise with you because I thought you went through at least a few of the hardships I had to endure with this stupid Church!” they said and kicked the piedestal. “But no! You awful god, you had to act all nice towards me since MAYBE you wouldn’t have recovered your memories if it wasn’t for me!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“..I did not know at first” He looked away, once again. He wasn’t expecting to get this kind of reaction, he thought that he would get a lot of questions thrown in his face “And I was not sure what your reaction would be… I did not want to scare you at first, but it looks like I have made it worse.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just…” Astra said as they were walking towards the door. “Just let me be alone for now. You already said that you don’t know things about the New Gods so maybe the text I’ll find will be written in a language I can read. So… Goodbye for now”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cleric walked through the door, entering the new room. They could hear Aelius trying to apologize even more, but they didn’t want to hear it. They regretted it a bit. They could have asked every question they had written down and hopefully get some answers, but no, they had to explode once again. With what rights, they asked themselves? They literally knew themselves for a few hours, why were they so hurt about being lied to? It wasn’t the first time someone lied to them anyways, people at the Church do it all the time. Pretending they’re ok with Astra’s identity and then complaining to the higher-ones about how they go against the will of their god. “Why should I even believe in gods…? They’re just useless entities that only destroy worlds…” They said as they grabbed their pocket watch. A good part of them was telling them to destroy it but there was a little voice stopping them from doing so. </span>
  <b>
    <em>“</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>What are you without your religion…? You’re a cleric, you’re supposed to be tied up to a god… Just because one old god wasn’t what you expected, doesn’t mean yours is the same…” </span>
  </em>
  <span> Astra shook their head. It wasn’t the first time they would hear this kind of words in their head, but this time they sounded a little too… specific considering what just happened a few moments ago. But it wasn’t the time to think about it… In front of them there was a new room and new stuff to discover…! </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe now I’ll get some answers about the whole cryptic things Toji told me before I left…” They sighed and grabbed their notebook, looking over a few questions they had noted. They yawned a little bit, finally realizing just how much time they’ve spent around here. Astra looked over the room. There were some little gems emanating light in the walls. It seemed that there was a painting in this room as well, but this one wasn’t covered at all. The cleric walked towards it, while looking around, trying to find any other object. Surprisingly though, the next door was wide open and they could see a faint light coming from it. They turned towards the painting, examining what they were seeing. A girl, looking quite young, was depicted in the image. Her long pink hair was past her knees and her white long dress made her look like a fairy. She had a flower crown on her head. An interesting detail is that she had a book next to her. Looking at her closely, Astra realized that the girl looked similar to Toji. Maybe the two of them were related? Like mother and child? The cleric walked closer to the painting and grabbed it. Behind the Melchior painting was a switch so who knows, maybe there is something behind it as well. A piece of paper dropped from behind it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh!” They leaned the painting on the wall and grabbed the little piece of paper they had found. Astra wanted to turn around and ask Aelius a question, but then they realized that the little spirit wasn’t with them anymore. They sighed and started reading the paper out loud. The lucky part of all of this is that the paper was written in an older form of the Common Language so it was easy to understand it. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>It is said that Beatrix was the human that Melanthios resurrected, causing Melchior to start a war, and survived the end of the Old World. She somehow gained the powers of a god and helped the Bringer of Darkness creating the New World. In her past life she used to be a cheerful girl who loved to write and read whenever she could. These qualities were seen in her life as a goddess. A traveler and author in her heart, she created the entire Multiverse and created Cronos in the image of her dad.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra dropped the paper. They looked once again at the painting. “A human… That was resurrected?” They asked themselves, as if someone might have an answer. They grabbed their notebook, noted down everything and put the piece of paper there as well. Astra picked up the painting and put it back on its place. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As they were walking around the room, trying to find anything else interesting, before they actually headed off into what it looked like to be the last room, it felt like Astra stepped on an item. They made a small jump, scared that they might have damaged the object. They kneeled and picked up the old notebook from the floor. Most of the pages were damaged and they couldn’t read anything from those. The last two of them were still intact and at the end of it there was a child drawing? “Huh, not something you would see around here” they told themselves as they started reading the journal </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>
    <em>No, this is wrong</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>This was supposed to be a good story, this dimension wasn’t supposed to end up like this!</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>Why are the chosen children dead?! Why did they meet with the evil source in their world already?! No, this is wrong, this is wrong, I have to rewrite this! </em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>I can’t… I can’t just leave them like this, I need to give them the perfect ending! </em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>I only want this to be perfect, but why, why do I just ruin everything I touch?! Even the gods in the Sun Dimension are… imperfect.”</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>“Not again. Not again. The dimension died. Another one. Another mistake of mine. Why, why, why, why, why CAN’T I FINALLY MAKE SOMETHING PERFECT?!”</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>“this… this was supposed to be different. Why did they die? I wanted to make a normal place, filled with love, just how I’ve read in the romance books. Why did they kill themselves like that…?!”</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>“...I recreated dad and now Melanthios is angry at me. I don’t know what to do. He’s not… Cronos is not how I remember dad. He doesn’t even know who exactly I am. this is wrong, this is wrong…</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>Why do I always ruin everything?!”</em>
  </b>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This must be Beatrix’ journal,'' Astra said while closing the notebook. Beatrix was a human after all, it made sense why she was consumed by her perfectionist side… “What even happened to her in the end? Is she still alive?” These questions were running around Astra’s mind. They had so many questions about these gods but no one to answer them. They picked up the drawing. It looked like what a 5-year old would draw in kindergarten. There were 4 people, all of them having a name over them. “Mom, but her name is colored over, Dad and his name is actually Cronos, Bro-bro, Aisier and Me, Toji” Astra said, reading the writing. “So wait, wait, let me get this straight…” They told themselves. It was one of their weird habits to talk loudly to themselves when they were alone. Mostly because they didn’t like being alone for long periods of time and hearing a voice, even if it was theirs, helped a little bit. “Beatrix created Cronos in the image of her dad, the scientist who made a trade with Melanthios… and then Cronos married a mortal and gave birth to Toji and Aisier who are probably immortal as the rest of the gods?” They said, writing down these ideas. “Then what Toji wants me to learn is that Cronos was a bad dad to her? Did he abuse her..?” They were walking in circles as they were talking. They turned the piece of paper around and found a little bit of text. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daddy got angry at me again. He told me that I was too slow while fighting. Bro-bro got angry at daddy telling me that he has high-expectations of a 5-year old. Daddy was really angry and hurt Bro-bro. I started crying, I’m scared. I just want a happy family. Mom hasn’t interacted with me in a long time. I think she hates me. She hates me for not being the perfect little daughter Daddy wants to have. Brother told me that he’ll find a way to fix this… I just want a hug…”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra was shocked. They… Weren’t expecting something like this… “He was training his kids to become soldiers to fight in his name” They had tears in their eyes. This little text reminded them of how some people in the Church acted towards them when they started their training. They were all harsh with them just because they were a small girl. Everyone told them that they will never be able to fight on their own, but here they are, ready to take whatever might still be hiding in this place. Astra sighed. Sure, their treatment wasn’t the same as what these kids had to go through. They had chosen to become a cleric instead of being just another nun, while these two were forced to learn how to fight. Does Toji even remember these moments? They decided to bring the painting with them and show it to her once they get back to the tavern. Maybe it’s not the artifact they were looking for but that might help? As they were walking, they tripped over a little box. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh… what might be this time?” They picked up the object from the floor. It wasn’t locked! In the box there was a broken necklace, in the form of a golden heart and a broken pocket watch with a small note next to it. The necklace had something written on the back of it. “With love, for my dear wife, Cronos”. Astra let out a disgusted noise. “Makes sense why it’s broken, you old god” they said and laughed a little bit. They grabbed the note attached to the clock. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“To whoever reads it, break any clock around you. He hears everything from them. Do not trust him. He killed so many gods just to be the ruler of the universe, he’ll sure kill the Church of Time if the occasion to use their lives for more power… Do not trust him.- Aisier, One of the Children of Time”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra quickly grabbed their pocket watch. The little voice in their head was absent, this might be the best opportunity to finally do it. They took a deep breath and threw the watch into the closest wall. It fell on the ground. The glass on it was broken and some gears flew from it as well. Astra sighed, but smiled to themselves. “Guess I’m free from the Church influence now…” They looked back at the box. It looked like it actually had a false bottom? They picked up the piece of wood and discovered another piece of paper. It was signed by Aisier as well. It was a letter from him to… someone who gets to read it?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello… Reader,</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>I hope that this was not found by my dad, or else my sacrifice was in vain. I gave up the position of Children of Time to become the Destroyer of Dimensions, just to destroy everything else he has created.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>If you meet Toji, then please tell her to go to Dimension 312YD. I’ll be waiting for her there. I have to tell her about everything that happened and unlock her memories that I’ve sealed. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>She doesn’t remember about me so please, don’t tell her who it is. I’ve tried to contact Melanthios to find her, but I’m not sure if he managed to since right now I believe she’s the loyal soldier of Cronos.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>To give some context, I’ve erased the memory of her first 7 years and replaced them with a much happier life, as I hid her into one of the first Dimensions. She was adopted by some lovely people and she lived a normal life till the age of 16. After that Cronos has found that dimension and… the rest is history.</span>
  <span></span>
    <br/>
  
  <span>Please, whoever you are, if you know where Toji is, just tell her where she has to go. Bring her the broken pocket watch in the box so that she’ll know how important he is</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>-Aisier, Children of Time, called Hakai, the Destroyer of Dimensions”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It… makes sense now,” Astra said, looking at the letter. “Toji doesn’t know anything about all of this… But yes, I’ll bring this watch to her” The cleric said as they put the box in their bag. Astra sighed and looked at the open door. It seems like it might be the time to head into the next room. They took a deep breath. They weren’t sure what they might find there. On one hand, Astra was quite happy with the information they’ve discovered in this room, but, on the other hand, they were a little bit scared. They sighed. “Whatever, let’s get done with this. I’ve already found one artifact that might help Toji… Might as well see what else is there…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They psyched themselves up and walked closer to the door. They noticed a splash of dried blood on the floor. “Oh great” they told themselves. Astra sighed and opened the stone door just enough so they could sneak into the next room. As soon as they walked there, the magic circle in the middle of it lit up. A clock appeared in the middle of it and a silhouette manifested out of light. A laugh echoed through the room as wind somehow started blowing in the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well then, Cleric of the Church of Time, What brings </span>
  <b>you</b>
  <span> here from all of the people?” the old man said, looking straight into Astra’s eyes. His presence  sent a cold shiver down their spine. He looked familiar. The cleric knew they saw him somewhere… but more exactly, somewhere in the church.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who are you?” Astra said, trying to build up their courage. “And how do you know who I am..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh Astra, you think you can ask me questions? But alas, I shall answer your question, my fellow Cleric. I am Cronos, your Church’s lovely God.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra froze in their place. They weren’t expecting to actually meet him today, but honestly, this day has been… One hell of a ride. They sighed, put their palm on their forehead and glared at the god in front of them. “Great, another thing I didn’t want to deal with today.” they thought to themselves.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want?” Astra asked, sounding a little bit more annoyed than one might have imagined. In front of them there was the god their Church worshipped, so one might think that they would be impressed by this. But all they felt was anger. Finally, they could actually throw all the anger they build up these entire years towards someone. Sure, it was the Church fault for treating them like that when they were trying to figure out who exactly they were, but hey, everyone was always saying that it was the will of the god!! </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cronos looked quite surprised. He crossed his arms, looking like he has an actual physical form. “People have been trying to play with resurrection magic around here”, he said, waving his right hand, “and I’m here to deal with whatever they summoned. I know fully well that vile creature is in this building and I’m pretty sure that my dear Cleric will actually help me deal with this…” He smiled at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra was creeped out by that smile. They knew there was something evil behind it. It was quite easy to figure that out… Especially now that they know so much about who this guy actually is and what he has done to his children. One moment later, a light arrow flew over Astra’s head, trying to shoot Cronos in the chest. He stopped the arrow mid-flight and frowned towards the Cleric. More exactly, at the entity behind them. Aelius flew as fast as he could, now trying to catch his breath. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, well, well. Looks like the evil creature is right here!” Cronos said, pointing at the light ball, trying to be as dramatic as he could. “And would you look at that, is the god who destroyed the Old World! What were the chances to meet in this life… Then again, you’re supposed to be dead. And you know, dead gods don’t throw light arrows at the ones who are still alive..” he said, laughing. He summoned his weapon, a greatsword similar to what Melchior used to wield a long time ago.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Astra, look.” Aelius said, flying in front of them. “I really need your help, but then again, I can understand if you are still angry at me…” he said, trying to keep eye contact. “We need to defeat Cronos, or else he will absorb what powers I have right now. They are… Not a lot, but it will make quite a difference for him. So would you help me? I know that you learned quite a lot about him in the room before us, I have seen some of the stuff around there… And I can feel the artifact and a Time God’s powers in it, so I assume it is the item for Toji…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t listen to him Cleric, I am your god. You were worshipping me before all of this! Why would you believe someone who murdered their own sister for power, when you can trust me, the all-mighty one!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>… Astra grabbed their sword and pointed it at the Time God in front of them. “I’m definitely not gonna regret this, Cronos” they said and quickly dashed towards him, having their sword at their neck. “But, even if you’re a god, you still have to pay for your sins.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Pathetic.” He said and teleported behind Astra and used their sword to attack. The cleric managed to block the attack a bit, but they were pushed into the wall by the impact’s force. Aelius flew in front of Astra and made a weak light shield. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can only heal and buff you…” He said as a light aura enveloped Astra’s sword. “Should be enough to block his attacks. Aim for any pocket watch he might have at hi-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Too slow!” Cronos said, destroying the shield in front of them and almost stabbing Aelius, who was still talking. The light ball dodged immediately and tried to blind the god. “Useless god, look at what you’ve become! Pathetic, Pathetic I might say!” Astra took the opportunity and managed to cut some of Cronos’ clothes, as he quickly moved as soon as he realized his guard dropped. A firebolt flew towards him, mostly to distract his attention. The god smirked, knowing fully well that a magic attack was coming from Astra. After all, he was the magic source of all the clerics in their church. He easily dodged the attack, but Astra buffed their speed and dashed once again towards the god.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He managed to block their sword attack. He smirked at them, once again. “I know all of your weaknesses, Astra. I know how much you love your family and how much you would suffer if their god would murder all of them. Stop this and join my forces. I’ll even give you divine power if you join me!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d rather not! Not after what I’ve learnt about you! You’ll never be the father you were created to be so just fucking give up already!” They said, as Aelius quickly threw another support spell to make their attacks even stronger. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cronos frowned at them. This subject was something that always affected him, but he never knew why. He knew he was supposed to be someone’s father, but he never met his daughter. So he created his own family, even got married, but even that was not enough for him. Now, in the middle of a fight, a foolish mortal is telling him a sharp truth that he always knew. He was angry and now he was ready to kill the people in front of him. One hit would be enough to defeat the light ball and who knows how many hits the Cleric can take before they start begging for their life. The magic circle under them started shining brightly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“ENOUGH!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A deep voice echoed in the room, similar to a thunder in a storm . Cronos knew whose voice was it and he froze for a second. Mostly out of surprise. Astra took this opportunity and managed to land a hit. A deep cut on Cronos’ chest, deep enough to make him bleed. He took a few steps back, touched his wound and frowned at the two of them. Behind them, a young long-haired guy appeared. He was breathing heavily.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dad, what are you doing here?!” He said, looking angrily. “And why are you trying to murder Melchior?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not Melchior, Aisier, and you know it. He’s not THE Melchior, he’s just a weak form of him. And I’m not gonna let this light ball overthrow me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aelius flew in front of Astra, close to Cronos. “That cut will not heal any time soon, I have made sure of it.”  he said, and glanced at Aisier. “I am surprised you managed to get here, I am sure that Astra wouldn’t have been able to damage the god that much…” he sighed. “After all, it is Toji’s destiny to slay this sinful creature…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am glad you managed to summon me” Aisier said, looking at the light ball. “But now, father, I force you to return to the Sun Dimension!” he said, as the magic circle activated under him. The edges of Cronos silhouette started to slowly fade, as the teleportation magic was activated. He smirked at Astra. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t think you’ll ever be able to use magic or even return to your Church now… Have fun being excommunicated and never be able to see your family…” He transformed into light particles, as a clock made out of light appeared at his feet and disappeared quickly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra kneeled down, taking deep breaths. “This was… painful…” They said, putting their hand over their head. “I never thought I’ll meet a god today, fuck, even fight one!” Aisier put his hands on the Cleric’s shoulder, applying a healing spell.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine. You helped us quite a lot. I’m surprised Cronos managed to find Melchior in this dungeon…” he said and let out a loud sigh. “Thank you for taking this quest from Toji, I’m afraid of what might have happened if you weren’t here… With that being said…” he looked at Aelius, whose light was weaker than before. “Melchior…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is fine, Children of Time. I have already died before and I knew this might happen again.” he said and flew in front of Astra, smiling at them. “It seems that Melanthios made the humans better than I could ever imagine and I have never been so happy to have one as my companion. Thank you, Astra.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-wait, that’s it?!” They said, slapping the floor in front of them. “I fucking fight a god and now you think it’s the best time to disappear?!” A few tears appeared in their eyes, as their emotions were a total mess. “You still have a lot of questions to answer me! Just because I was angry at you for hiding some information from me it doesn’t mean I’ll leave you to die just like that..!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Astra, he was never meant to survive for a long time…” Aisier said, trying to console the cleric. “You see, this is just a fragment of himself and gods can’t be resurrected. Once they die they become a star in the night sky and have the duty to guide and protect everyone else…” He sighed and opened a small portal in front of them. “Here, this will return you to the entrance of the cave and you can go back to the tavern and bring Toji the item you have found…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Before you leave..” Aelius said, as his form was slowly disappearing. “Astra, I shall grant you the magic that I have so that you do not have to borrow it from the gods you might want to worship. Live your life just as you want and tell people the truth about the history of this world. This shall be my quest for you. Do you accept it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They quickly cleaned up the few tears they had in their eyes. Astra smiled at him and bowed their head. “My sword shall fight in your name from now on, Melchior, God of Light and creator of humans. I shall tell people what I have learned today and make sure that the Church of Time will be destroyed in the process, making Cronos weaker in the proces..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astra started shining a little as Aelius disappeared in front of them. They smiled, feeling some warmth in their chest. They snapped their fingers and a small fireball appeared in their hand. They chuckled. Now they could finally use magic! They waved at Aisier and walked into the portal he created. They took a deep breath, keeping their notebook at their chest. They appeared right in front of the cave, a little bit dizzy. They quickly checked their bag to see that they still have the magic box. “Phew”, Astra said as soon as they found the item. “Now then,” they psyched themselves up, “back to the tavern I go!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The walk back there was way shorter than before. Or at least their excitement made this trip much faster? Once they entered the building, they were greeted with the same bard singing the old songs and the tavern keeper cleaning up a few glasses. They greeted them, smiling. He looked a little bit surprised but returned the smile as well. The cleric sat down in front of him and looked around. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“First of all, I’d love to have something to drink and… where exactly is Toji?” Astra asked, tilting their head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The young one is sleeping in her room, why do you ask?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have  something for her! And some important thing to tell her about herself! And, and…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The tavern keeper put a finger on his lips, winking at the cleric. “Maybe you should keep this information for yourself, but I’ll make sure the box will reach her. After all, she does not remember who her family is for now and she’s still not done in this dimension…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You… You’re not just a mortal, are you?” They said, laughing a little. “Of course, it all makes sense…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It seems that you’ve met Aelius, but I’m quite surprised you survived an encounter with Cronos…” he said and smiled at her. “But alas, I think you have to start writing and maybe talk with some bards… After all, you have a new quest to do!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hehe, yes!” Astra said, sounding more excited than ever before. They put the box with the artifact in front of them and took out their notebook to start writing down. The tavern keeper grabbed the box and put it in a safe place. As the cleric was concentrating on what they were doing, Toji appeared next to them and glanced at what was written in the notebook.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh, never thought you would be interested in the old gods, Astra. Also it’s nice to see you back! And I see that you stopped following the Church of Time..?” she said as she sat down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I’ve met some people there who convince me what a stupid idea the whole church is so now I’ll maybe try to become a bard who knows how to fight?” They smiled, closing their notebook. “After all, I have a lot of stories left to tell and everyone needs to know them…!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hope that my story will be one of them!” Toji said, her eyes sparkling. “I have so many adventures to tell you about that could be easily made into some interesting ballads!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the two of them continued to chat, the tavern keeper smiled warmly at the box. A small tear appeared in his eye, thinking about his own brother. He looked up, towards the window, as the stars were shining brightly on this peaceful night. He was happy to be able to witness these kinds of moments himself, but alas, he still has a duty to do...</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is one of the few stories about the Multiverse I've actually manage to write and I'm proud of myself that I've actually got it done :o<br/>Hope you guys enjoyed it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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